Russia prepares sanctions against U.S. Special Prosecutor Mueller

The Council of the Federation of Russia prepared a preliminary version of a list of those implicated in Russia’s ouster from the 2018 Olympics, and sanctions are being prepared against them.

Included on the list, according to the media outlet RBK Group – citing two sources in the Upper Chamber of the Russian Parliament – are the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Craig Reedie, U.S. Attorney General Robert Mueller, head of the WADA commission to investigate charges of doping at the Sochi Olympics Richard Mclaren, commissioner Richard Young, and commission investigator Martin Dubbey. In total, the initial list will include more than ten people, the agency’s sources stated.

The temporary commission of the Federation Council on the Protection of State Sovereignty will propose to apply personal sanctions against foreign officials involved in banning the Russian team from the Olympic Games. These sanctions will go into force after the Winter Olympics in Korea.

It is assumed that after the list is approved, the Federation Council will apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to restrict those listed from entry into Russia, one source said. RBK’s second source did not rule out wider sanctions against foreign officials.

On the initiative of WADA, headed by Craig Reedie, an independent commission was established to verify the information on doping in Russian sports, headed by Richard Mclaren.

In 2016 Mclaren published a report on the use of doping by Russian athletes. It described the system of substitution of doping samples that operated in Russia, in which the staff of the Center for Sports Training of National Teams, the Ministry of Sport, RUSADA, the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory and the FSB participated.

Robert Mueller is the U.S. Special Prosecutor in the case of Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election of 2016.